Do you pay attention to your hunches?

For a few days I have been musing on a thought that appeared in a dream, i.e. how one idea, conceived by one individual may be virtual power plant, fuelling not only the person who conceived it, but also hundreds and thousands of others.

However, as I now begin to write this blog post, I think it all begins by paying attention to our hunches.

Because every idea of going in a new direction (literally or figuratively) carries the potential to be a source of new energy it is important, that we take those ideas or sensations seriously, which pop up seemingly out of nowhere, and suggest that we take a path, we had not planned on.

I don’t mean that we should follow every hunch to such a degree that we are not getting ahead, but to give them that extra split second of attention, which it would take to make a note of the idea and decide whether or not to follow suit on the potential for action that it implies.

This could be the kind of action, which I am taking right now by writing a blog post, just because it feels important.

However, it could also be reaching out to a friend, simply because you had a hunch that he or she might be struggling alone with some rough stuff.

At work, it might be:

– spending an extra minute with a particular member of your team to check if he is ok, just because the thought “I wonder if something’s wrong?” crossed your mind.

– deciding that you want to observe the interaction among your staff more closely for a few days, because you sense some dissonance, but cannot quite put your finger on what it is.

– taking your own aspirations (or stress symptoms) seriously enough to get a good grip on your leadership deliverables or some aspect of your people skills.

Alternatively, it might even be stepping back from the tracks we have been following in order to test a new road, either for yourself or for your organisation.

If we never pay attention to those hunches, the direction will be set by others, that is of course unless someone overturns our hamster wheel.

Notice and fertilize your hunches – some of them contain seeds you really want to grow!

One Response

Great post. I like the examples. They make the hunch following an accessible strategy. I’d add to your thinking the proposition to actually STOP for a minute or so between “events.” A minute of reflection and space between two meetings for example, can provide the room for these hunches to be “heard.” That has been my experience.